Fish passage restoration is not just a treaty rights issue — it benefits the entire region.
No matter the expense, culvert repair is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase the number of naturally spawning salmon in our waters. These are the salmon that will feed our struggling southern resident orca population. These are the salmon that provide recreational fishing opportunities that boost tourism and our economy.
The state of Washington must fully fund fish barrier removal so it can meet its court-ordered deadline of 2030. This deadline was set by a federal judge in 2013, but access to spawning habitat was meant to be guaranteed to salmon in the Pacific Northwest since before Washington was a state.
An 1848 Congressional Act stated, “the rivers and streams of water in said Territory of Oregon (which included the land that would become Washington) in which salmon are found, or to which they resort, shall not be obstructed by dams or otherwise, unless such dams or obstructions are so constructed as to allow salmon to pass freely up and down such rivers and streams.”